James and Lily's Journey Through Hogwarts
by Misty Eyed Mystery
Summary: Lily always hated James from the beginning of Hogwarts. But a series of one shots through her and James' 5th, 6th, and 7th year show how she fell in love with him, with a few bumps in between. ** Hey guys! If you like my story please review/favorite/follow so I know people enjoyed it! Thanks!**
1. He Was Good At Transfiguration (5th year

On a cold Thursday afternoon at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, 5th year Lily Evans sat in the second row of her transfiguration classroom taking vigorous notes as Professor McGonagall instructed how to turn a cat into a chair. Her head was bent low and her quill was clutched tightly in her hand as she scribbled on the parchment, stopping every few seconds to dip her quill into the ink. Being in her OWL year, she knew that transfiguration would be harder than it had ever been before. Nothing would stop her from receiving a perfect E on her exam at the end of the year. Lily bit her lip as she always did when she was in concentration as McGonagall delivered the day's assignment.

"The first student to correctly transfigure their cat into a char will be excused from homework in this class for the rest of the week." Lily's head perked up. She already had homework piled high in potions, charms, arithmancy, herbology, and ancient runes; excused homework in transfiguration for the week would be like a dream. Lily was sure she could be the first one in the room to transfigure her cat into a chair. She had been taking notes all class, been paying close attention, who would stand a chance against her? Suddenly she heard a laugh come from behind her, a laugh that could only belong to "Potter," Lily gritted her teeth at the name. She doubted the arrogant toerag had even been paying attention to the lesson; transfiguration was his best subject anyway. Lily was better than him in most subjects, especially potions, but James was the best in the year at transfiguration, a class Lily was only mediocre at.

At the back of the classroom, James Potter had been sitting daydreaming as his eyes were glued to the back of Lily's head. He had just been watching how the sunlight from the window caught on her fiery red hair. Suddenly, the immortal words "excused from homework" yanked him out of his daydream and immediately brought him to attention. James' best mate, Sirius, also stirred beside him, excited. James mind raced. The assignment was to turn a cat into a chair right? That would be nothing, he was a bloody animagus after all. James was smartest in his year and transfiguration was his best subject, he could easily achieve it first. But there was one person who could possibly beat him, a person with fiery red hair. "Evans," James laughed at the way her name rolled off his tongue. Lily Evans, James Potter's long time crush had probably been taking notes the entire class period, she was more prepared to do the spell correctly than he was. But James had Remus, another one of his friends who had also been taking notes as close as Lily.

McGonagall excused the class and everyone immediately began practicing the spell. Lily grabbed her fluffy gray grumpy looking cat and immediately tried the spell, _Carissa Catorsa. _The cat transfigured, but not into a chair. The cat grew and its legs turned into the legs of a chair, but besides that it was still a cat. McGonagall came by and did the reverse spell.

"Keep trying Miss. Evans, more wrist action is what you need," she advised. Lily pursed her lips in concentration. Seeing her progress, James immediately tried the spell on Remus' cat. His cat turned into a chair, but still had a tail and was completely made out of cat hair. It was more progress than Lily, but definitely not good enough for McGonagall. James' chair made Lily angry. She would NOT be beaten by James Potter. She stared him down and he met her eyes.

"God she's beautiful" James thought. For a second he was lost in her green eyes, but then Lily adverted her stare and James snapped back into attention. Lily was trying to transfigure her cat again. She bit her lip in concentration, a thing that drove James mad just thinking about. Making sure to emphasize the wrist action and pronounce each syllable precisely. This time her cat transformed into a chair, but at the top were little cat ears and the arms and legs of the chair were still furry. Lily sat in her chair as if it were a throne and grinned proudly at James Potter. Just then her chair gave a winey "meow." James guffawed at Lily's reddening face. He then proceeded to try the spell for a second time, making sure Lily was paying close attention. His sharp wrist action and perfect pronunciation made Lily wince, he couldn't beat her, he just couldn't! Lily watched as the cat turned into a perfect armchair.

"Well done Mr. Potter," McGonagall said proudly. James stood up straight and shot a toothy grin in Lily's direction. She scowled.

McGonagall dismissed the class and everyone filed out. Lily hurried rapidly away to avoid James' smug looks and to escape the shame that she had lost to him once again. James saw this and decided to take advantage of the situation.

"Better luck next time, eh Evans?" James called after her. Lily froze and spun around.

"Don't act like this shows anything Potter. You are an arrogant toerag, but an arrogant toerag that's good a transfiguration," she spat, taking a step towards him.

"Ooh Evans was that a compliment?" James asked innocently, taking a step towards Lily.

"Don't flatter yourself, Potter," Lily said taking another step until there was only a foot between the two of them.

"Evans, Evans, Evans," James sighed, taking another step. "No need to be sore that you lost our little competition back there." He took another step until there were only inches between the two of them. Lily stared James smug look down fiercely. James began to lean forward until they were nose to nose, but he didn't stop leaning. Lily's eyes widened and she quickly took a step back.

"Ugh you disgust me," she snarled and took off down the corridor. James watched her march away, but the red in her cheeks were unmistakable.

"Oi snap out of it Prongs," Sirius said walking up behind him.

"Do you think she hates me?" James asked still staring at the direction Lily had walked.

"Nah mate, she just hasn't realized she's in love with you yet," Sirius consoled, patting James on the back.

"No she hates you," Remus said appearing on James' other side.

"I believed what just happened between me and Evans was what they call a moment," James sighed.

"Come on love boy, let's get you to dinner," Sirius said grinning at his friend.

"I think I'm going to ask her out at dinner again," James said to his two friends. Remus and Sirius both groaned.

"Not again," Remus groaned. "You know she hates that Prongs."

"No do it, eventually she will have to say yes." Sirius encouraged, grinning. He enjoyed hearing Lily's insults every time James asked her out. They were very creative and original, one of the many things Sirius would admire about Lily.

"I would rather be beaten by the Whomping Willow then go out with you," Lily snorted at James. Everyone at the Gryffindor table was watching this scene, not like they hadn't seen it before. James face was the color of Lily's hair. Behind him, Sirius was trying very hard not to laugh, Remus was shaking his head, and their other friend, Peter, was shaking because of Lily's terrifying rage.

"Come on Evans how about just a date?" James tried again.

"Potter the answer is no. It always has been no and it always will be no!"

James's attitude took over. "Well it might be no for now but one day Evans you're going to fall in love with me."  
Lily let out and indignant laugh.

"In your dreams, Potter," she retorted.

"Already is," James said back smoothly. He was pleased as he watched Lily blush for the second time today. She opened her mouth to retort, but decided against it and stalked away down the Gryffindor table. Some of the students looked sorry for him, others just looked amused. James watched her go again and his friends gathered behind him.

"Yeah she hates you," Sirius grinned. James sighed.


	2. He Had a Heart (5th Year)

James trudged up the stairs and approached the Fat Lady with Sirius in tow. Today had not been a good day. He had managed to piss of Lily worse than he ever had before and was at fault for ending her friendship with her best friend. Even from his friends' standards that was pretty terrible. He had never screwed up so bad with the girl he liked most. She probably hated him for destroying her friendship with Snape.

James was so wrapped up in his own misery he hadn't even noticed that someone was pacing outside the door; someone with greasy black hair and a hooked nose.

"What are you doing Snivellus?" Sirius sneered. Snape whirled around to face the two boys.

"I'm waiting for Lily," Severus snapped.

"I don't think she wants to talk to you," James said defiantly. "She's been crying all afternoon in the common room."

"Don't pretend you care for her, Potter," Snape spat at James. "I know what she is to you, just another conquest that you can cross off your list."

"You're one to talk, she's in there crying because of you not me. You don't understand how you hurt her. I'd be surprised if she ever talked to you again." James stared down Snape fiercely. "You disgust me." James barely had time to react before the fist collided with his face. He heard the crack of his nose breaking. Sirius drew his wand and was ready to fire a curse but James grabbed his arm. "No don't," James said weakly, his other hand trying to staunch the blood pouring from his nose. "I suppose he's already lost his best friend today, don't think he needs to loose and eye as well." Sirius lowered his want and glowered at Snape in disgust. James and Sirius entered the port hole, leaving poor Serverus Snape in the corridor alone.

The first thing James noticed was Lily in the corner of the common room, surrounded by many girls, including her best friends Mary, Alice, Marlene, and Dorcus. Her eyes were red, evidence of her crying. Lily looked up as she saw Sirius and James enter. She and James's eyes met for a second before she looked back down. Even in the glumness of the situation, James couldn't help but admire her. Lily was popular from anyone's standard, as evidence of the crowd of many girls surrounding her. She was gorgeous, well liked and kind to everyone. James was popular for different reasons. He and the Marauders were the school's bad boys, the pranksters. In addition James was very good looking and the all star Gryffindor quidditch player. From a gir'ls point of view, he was irresistible.

As James and Sirius sat down in the armchairs by the fire, Mary, one of Lily's closest friends came to meet them.

"How is she?" James asked, still looking worriedly at Lily.

"I suggest you stay away from her until things die down a bit, but what happened to you?" Mary asked looking over James, whose hand was still covering his bleeding nose as the blood dripped down his face onto his robes.

"Snape's out in the corridor, waiting for Lily. He wasn't too happy to see me," James grimaced.

"I can tell." Mary winced as she surveyed him. "You should really see Madame Pomfry."

"And risk seeing Snape again? I'll pass," James said. "I'll just get Remus to fix it or something."

Later that night, James was still nursing his broken nose. Remus had been able to get the bleeding to stop but he hadn't been able to fix it. It was about 11:00 and James had officially decided that he couldn't take it anymore. He went downstairs to go see Madame Pomfry. It was then that he saw a person curled up by the fire. James stopped in his tracks, his pain vanishing in his nose as he saw who it was. Lily Evans was sitting with her back to him facing the fire. Her long red hair tumbled down her back and she was hugging her knees, staring blankly ahead.

"Lily?" James asked timidly. Lily turned and looked at James. Her eyes were still puffy, and her bottom lip was trembling, but she didn't say anything biting. James assumed this meant he was clear to approach her. He went and sat down beside her, his broken nose immediately forgotten. She turned to him.

"You look awful," she managed to say. James guessed that he hadn't gotten all the blood off of his face and robes.

"You don't look so great either," James said. Lily managed a small smile, but it did not meet her eyes.

"Mary told me that Severus broke your nose," Lily said.

"Nah I'm alright, it's nothing really," James said. Lily half smiled because she knew James was lying.

"I could fix it for you if you would like," Lily offered.

"Oh Evans, I don't know if I can trust you," James teased. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Don't be stupid, Potter," she said. James reluctantly turned toward Lily's wand. Their eyes met for a minute before Lily dropped her gaze. She bit her lip in concentration as she prepared to do the spell, something that drove James mad. "Episky," she said. James grunted as he felt a crack in his nose, but then the pain quickly subsided.

"Thanks," James said. The two sat in silence watching the fire crackle. Finally James broke the silence. "Listen Lily, I'm sorry about today, I really am. I was a jerk and I embarrassed you. I know you hate me-" Lily cut James off from his ramble.

"I don't hate you, James. Sometimes you can be an arrogant toe rag, but deep down I know you have a heart, the way you stand up for your friends and protect them. How could I hate you for that? And it's Severus who I'm mad at, what he did was unforgivable. I mean I always knew this would happen at some point but I never thought it would be like this and so sudden..." Lily trailed off as she got choked up again. James sat next to her awkwardly. He really wanted to comfort Lily, to put his arm around her, but he didn't know if that would make her more upset. Instead he opted to reach out his hand for hers. She grasped it as if it was the only thing keeping her from breaking down again.

"James," Lily whispered.

"Yes Lily?" James asked.

"Thank you, and I'm sorry for overreacting today. Maybe we could just try to be friends." She gazed up at him.

"I would love that," James agreed. Lily smiled a real smile that reached her sparkling green eyes. They sat in silence for a few more minutes before each returned to their separate dormitories.

James lay in bed for hours after thinking of Lily. She didn't hate him, and she wanted to be friends, how could things get better? Maybe, just maybe if James could learn to control his ego and not be an "arrogant toe rag" as Lily called him, she could fall for him just as he had fallen for her.


	3. He knew how to have fun (6th year)

They had been on almost friendly terms for almost a semester. James had greatly reduced how many times he asked Lily out per week, and tried to be as humble as possible around her, although he still teased her and she still acted like she hated him, even though James knew it wasn't true.

As Christmas Break approached for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Lily Evans sat on the couch in the common room in a very good mood. She was very happy because her parents had permitted her to stay at Hogwarts over the holidays to avoid her sister Petunia's engagement party. It was only too bad that none of her friends were able to stay over the holidays. Across the common room Lily picked up on a conversation between Sirius Black and James Potter

"My parents don't even want me to come home for the holidays," Sirius was saying. "Besides all I would get if I came home would be disgusted looks from all my relatives."

"Well you can't stay here alone Padfoot," James protested. "I'll stay here with you." Lily couldn't help but feel some admiration towards James for his loyalty to his friend.

"Prongs you don't have to do that," Sirius argued.

"I want to, besides who is going to protect the castle while all the students are gone" James laughed. Lily rolled her eyes. An entire two week Christmas vacation with no one but Black and Potter to keep her company? Sounded like some sort of nightmare.

The day that all the students left, Lily sat quietly in a very comfy chair by the fire in the common room reading a book. The tower was empty at 4:00 in the afternoon, which was very strange for Gryffindor tower. Suddenly, the peacefulness was interrupted by a large thud hitting the window. Lily rushed towards the window to see Black and Potter in front of the school playing in the fresh snow. James glanced up at the window as if he knew Lily was watching him. He then grabbed some snow off the ground, packed it into a snowball and threw it right at Sirius. It hit him square in the chest and Lily could hear James guffawing loudly through the window. "Evans! Come play with us!" James shouted. Lily rolled her eyes at the two Gryffindors and walked away from the window back to her comfy chair. She sat down and the silence resumed for a few moments until another *thud* was heard from the window. Lily got up again to look out the window.

"Come on Evans! Pleeeeeeease? You know you want to hang with us" James begged, a grin plastered on his face and his cheeks red from the cold. Lily knew she had no choice. The two boys wouldn't stop bothering her until she agreed. She sighed and walked out front to meet them.

James and Sirius clapped loudly and whooped when they saw Lily approaching. Hearing this, she immediately crossed her arms over her chest.  
"Look who decided to come play with us instead of reading boring books!" James joked.  
"I only came out because I knew you wouldn't stop bothering me until I did," Lily said indignantly.  
"Right you are Lily flower," Sirius said. Lily rolled her eyes. "Fine so I'm here what are we doing?" Lily asked.  
"This," James said carrying a large mound of snow. Lily barely had time to react before a large snowball hit her right in the face. She was utterly shocked as James laughed his head off at her who was covered in snow. She tried to look angry but she couldn't help it and burst out laughing as well. Lily quickly grabbed a handful of snow and packed it into a snowball.  
"Oi James!" Lily called. James turned and Lily's snowball hit him in the face as well. Lily giggled as James stumbled around not being able to see because his glasses were covered in snow.

"Come here Evans!" James roared at Lily. His eyes were wide and a gleeful grin was spread wide across his face. Lily knew what he was going to do so she bolted in the opposite direction. James ran after her and caught up with her easily.

_Quidditch practice has served him well_, Lily thought. She suddenly felt a pair of hands around her waist and she lost her footing on the snow as James tackled her into the snow. They both went down hard and were absolutely covered in the white power, and Lily swore she had never had more fun in her life. She and James lay in the snow laughing until Sirius approached and helped James up, who then proceeded to help Lily up. The trio was extremely cold at this point so James, Sirius, and Lily headed inside to get warmed up.

"I'm in the mood for some hot butterbeer, what about you, Prongs," Sirius asked.

"Sounds like a plan," James agreed. Lily followed curiously behind James and Sirius who headed through a series of corridors until they reached a painting on the wall.

_There's nothing special about this painting_, Lily thought. _Just a bowl of fruit_...

"What's this?" Lily asked. James reached out a hand and tickled the pear. To Lily's astonishment, the pear let out a giggle and turned into a door handle. James pushed open the door

"Welcome to the kitchens," James said proudly. He held the door for Lily and she stepped inside to find house elves bustling around a room larger than the Great Hall. A house elf immediately rushed up to Lily and took her coat. Two other house elves did the same to James and Sirius. The three were then lead over to a crackling fire.

"Master James and Master Sirius, so nice to see you again," a small house elf wheezed.

"Hello Moggy," James greeted the house elf warmly. "This is Lily." He introduced the red head sitting next to him. Moggy bowed and he swore he saw Lily blush.

"Hi," she said nervously.

"What can we do for you misters and miss," the house elf asked.

"Three butterbeers please," Sirius ordered. Moggy rushed away and three more house elves approached carrying butterbeers.

"Thank you, Toppy, Shooddy, Chovey" James addressed each by name. They all bowed and rushed away.

"So this is how you do it then? Provide all the food for the Quidditch after parties, do all those pranks and somehow are always eating something?" Lily asked.

"Of course, we've known about this place since first year," James grinned.

"What other secrets about the castle do you know?" Lily asked curiously.

"Now Evans, we can't reveal all of our secrets," James said, giving Sirius a look as if they knew so much that Lily didn't. She huffed indignantly, and James gave her a mysterious smile. Lily felt butterflies in her stomach as she met his hazel eyes. _Wait butterflies?_

_No_, she thought indignantly. _James Potter did not just give me butterflies._ She ignored them and they went away.

The trio sat in the kitchens for awhile talking and drinking. James managed to get butterbeer froth all over his upper lip, giving him "the official butterbeer mustache" as Sirius called it. The rest of winter vacation was spent the way the first day was. James, Sirius and Lily wandered the castle. The boys showed Lily all sorts of secret passages that she had never known about before. They even snuck through a secret passage into Honeydukes and got some candy. Overall, Lily thoroughly enjoyed her winter vacation, and dare she say it, James' company as well. He had surprisingly proven to be a good friend to her.

As term resumed a few weeks later, James and Lily returned back to their normal banter, but things were different between them.


	4. He Actually Cared (6th year)

Even from afar James could tell Lily was happy about something. He and the other Marauders sat in the corner of the library as Remus and Peter did homework and Sirius and he played a rather aggressive game of Exploding Snap.

"Your move," Sirius said, but James was too busy focusing on the group of girls in the other corner of the library. They were all excited and chattering among each other; Lily Evans sitting right in the middle, the most excited of all of them. "Prongs, are you planning on making a move anytime soon?" Sirius asked impatiently.

"What do you suppose they're so excited about," James asked Sirius, still fixated on Lily.

"Who cares? They're girls; no one can understand how their complicated brains work!" Sirius grumbled. James rolled his eyes and rose from the table. "Hey where are you going? We're in the middle of a game!" Sirius protested.

"I'll be back in a second," James said making his way over to the group of girls.

"Okay, try not to make an arse of yourself in front of your precious Evans!" Sirius called after him.

As James approached the group of girls, they all ceased their chatter and looked at him, some of them slightly amused; Lily, the most amused of them all.

"What do you want, Potter?" She asked as he came to a stop in front of the girls.

"Well Evans, this is a library, and since you ladies are making so much noise as to disturb the rest of us hardworking students, I thought I might as well come over to see what you all are fussing about," James said innocently. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Since when have you ever cared about the peacefulness of the library, Potter? I heard that Madame Pince gave you a week's detention for setting off a dungbomb in here yesterday."

"As much as I do appreciate your admiration of my work, Evans, that's not why I came over here," James responded. Lily glanced at her friends surrounding her as if she was wondering if they should tell the boy. Finally, Alice spoke up.

"Lily's got a date with Tag Edwards!" she said excitedly. All the girls started squealing again at the name.

"Tag Edwards? The Ravenclaw Quidditch Team Captain?" James asked, appalled.

"The very _gorgeous_ Ravenclaw Quidditch Team Captain!" Marlene said dreamily.

"He asked her to Hogsmeade!" another girl piped in.

"Evans! I thought you had better taste than Edwards," James remarked. "He's not even that good at Quidditch. Sirius put him in the hospital for three days last year during the Gryffindor- Ravenclaw Quidditch match." Lily glared at him.

"Not that it's any of your business, Potter, but Tag Edwards is ten times the man you are. He's nice and smart and he doesn't waste his time on silly pranks like you and your _Marauders_ do." She said Marauders like it was an insult. Lily rose from her chair and got right in James' face. "And if you or Sirius does anything to mess up my date with him in Hogsmeade on Saturday, I will hex both of your toes off. Understand me, Potter?" James gulped at Lily's murderous expression.

"Okay princess, I won't mess up your date with Prince Edwards," James assured her. Lily backed up and sat back down with her friends. They resumed their chatter and James took this as his cue to leave.

"I see things got a little heated with you and Evans back there," Sirius remarked wiggling his eyebrows. "Anything I ought to know about?"

"She's got a date to Hogsmeade with _Tag Edwards_. Can you believe that? I asked her twice to Hogsmeade and she turned me down flat. I mean what does this Edwards guy have that I don't?" James ranted.

"Well for starters, he's got Lily," Remus said without even looking up from his book. Sirius and Peter cracked up, but James just sat down angrily.

"Ugh stupid Captain of the Quidditch team, I'm captain of the Quidditch team! 'Tag Edwards is ten times the man you are. He's nice and smart and he doesn't waste his time on silly pranks like you'" James imitated Lily in a high falsetto voice. Sirius guffawed.

"You have to admit, Evans does have sass," he said. James glared at him. "Hey don't get too down, mate," Sirius consoled. "Maybe their date will go horrible!"

"Or maybe their date will go amazing, and Evans will fall in love with that prick instead of me and they'll get married and have five kids, all named 'fuck you Potter'" James grumbled. Sirius, Remus, and Peter all chortled.

"Aww Edwards and Evans, how cute," Peter teased.

"Oh can it Peter," James shot back. The other Marauders just laughed harder.

Hogsmeade weekend arrived quickly. Everyone was excited for the day out of the castle, everyone except James Potter, who had been in a bad mood ever since he found out about Tag Edwards taking Lily on a date.

"Cheer up mate!" Sirius coaxed. "We can go to Zonkos and replenish our dungbomb supply and get Edwards good after his date with Evans today!" The prospect of pranking Edwards (Lily never said anything about pranking him after the date right?) put James in a little better spirits. Besides, he had a lot to get done today. His broomstick was in need of repairs before the final Quidditch match of the season, and he was in need of new quills because he kept losing his and needing to borrow one of Remus'. There was no time to worry about Evans and her stupid date with Edwards.

The rain came down in heavy drops throughout the day. James was disgusted to see that Lily hadn't even bothered to bring her own umbrella, as she was sharing one with Tag. James got on his broom and rode it down to Hogsmeade, telling his friends he would meet up with them at The Three Broomsticks later. After going to buy a fresh set of quills, James went to the Quidditch shop so that his broomstick could get the tweaking it needed to be the best it could be for the next game. This took a good two hours and by the time the broomstick was ready, it was already lunch time.

As James made his way to the three broomsticks, he saw someone burst out the door and into the pouring rain without an umbrella. As the person turned to walk down the street in the direction of Hogwarts castle, he saw the unmistakable glint of red from under her cloak. James didn't know what he planned to do, but he immediately got on his broomstick and followed Lily Evans down the street.

Lily was shivering as she walked down the street in the pouring rain. She was soaked from head to toe without an umbrella, without a heavy cloak, and without a date. She was glad the rain was there though because it could hide the tears that were streaming down her cheeks. Suddenly, she felt the rain cease from the steady patter onto her head. Lily looked up and was surprised to find James Potter riding next to her on his broomstick, holding his umbrella over her head.

"Go away Potter, I'm not in the mood," Lily said, trying very hard to maintain a neutral disposition, but by the way James was looking at her, she knew he could tell that she was upset.

"But Evans, if I move then you'll get wet from the rain," James said softly.

"You're getting yourself wet by covering me," she protested.

"It's the gentlemen thing to do," James said.

"Oh shut up, Potter. You don't owe me anything. It's not like you're my _date."_ Her voice broke as she furiously wiped tears from her cheeks. "I don't need you. I don't need anyone," she said bitterly.

"Come on Lily you know I care about you. Just let someone do something for you for a change instead of you being the independent stubborn Lily Evans I know you to be," James said roughly. Lily pouted indignantly, and stopped.

"What gives you the right to boss me around?" She snapped.

"I'm just saying if someone is trying to do something nice for you, you could just thank them instead of being so damn stubborn all the time," James countered. Lily didn't respond, and they resumed walking in silence. At the entrance to Hogsmeade, James stopped Lily again to break the silence.

"Evans, you can't just go back to Hogwarts and wallow in your own misery all day," James protested.

"Maybe I want to wallow in my own misery all day, Potter," she said. James hopped off his broomstick, making sure to keep the umbrella over Lily's head.

"The Marauders and I were meeting up for lunch at The Three Broomsticks. Come with us," James offered. Lily was about to decline and say that she would rather go back to Hogwarts alone, but she remembered what James had said about her not being stubborn when someone was trying to do something nice for her.

"Don't worry Evans, it's not a date. God knows you would never go on one of those with me," James grumbled. Lily managed a smile.

Everyone in The Three Broomsticks was shocked to see James Potter escorting Lily Evans inside the front door. The entire school knew how the popular Quidditch star James Potter had a crush on the equally as popular Lily Evans, but no matter how many times he asked her out she always declined with some creative insult. So the sight that James was leading her over to a table in the back that Sirius, Remus, and Peter were occupying (all with their mouths wide open) was something everyone was surprised to see.

Turns out, James saved Lily from a day sulking around the Gryffindor common room by treating her to an enjoyable meal with the Marauders in The Three Broomsticks. After that, he willingly accompanied her back to Hogwarts tower where she found Mary, Alice, and Marlene waiting for her after finding out what happened with Tag from Dorcus. He left her in the good company of her friends and went to his dorm room to devise the most horrible prank on Tag Edwards he could think of.

James found out what happened with Lily and Tag from Sirius, Remus, and Peter who were in the Three Broomsticks at the time of the incident. Lily and Tag had stopped in to share a butterbeer. Lily had gotten up to use the bathroom, and she returned to see Tag in lip lock with none other than Bellatrix Black, Sirius' "evil cousin" as he puts it.

The next day, every article of clothing in Tag Edwards' dorm was mysteriously hanging in the entry hall. He arrived downstairs in his pajamas with all of his hair gone, and the word "cheater" tattooed across his bald head. On the other hand, Bellatrix awoke to find herself completely pink; clothes, skin, hair and all. They were both in the hospital wing for a total of eight hours as Madame Pomfry tried to get them back to normal. Everyone knew the Marauders were behind it, but since no one could prove it, they didn't get in trouble. The heinous prank did bring a smile to Lily Evans, who couldn't help but secretly thank James Potter for Tag and Bellatrix's misfortune. All of this proved one thing. James Potter truly did care about her, whether she liked it or not, and she was starting to think that she did.


	5. He Was Responsible (7th Year)

Lily had to admit, there were things she admired about James Potter. How he managed to be Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, a loyal friend to his Marauders, and the Hogwarts Head boy, she would never know. Another thing she would never know is how James became head boy in the first place. He was never even a prefect. Lily had to admit was that James was a good head boy. He took his job surprisingly seriously. He had even given Sirius a detention once, something that had surprised Lily immensely.

As the first Quidditch match of the season loomed closer, Gryffindor vs. Slytherin, Lily noticed James becoming increasingly more agitated. He would rant to Lily during their daily patrol about the day's Quidditch practice; what went perfect and what he was worried about for the game. She could tell he was a little stressed, but since she knew nothing about Quidditch, she would quietly listen to him tell her about all the plans he had for the team this year. Secretly, Lily thought it was adorable the way James would talk about Quidditch. He would get all excited and start bouncing around with a grin on his face, as he talked about the beautiful play he and his chasers made during practice. It reminded Lily of an excited little puppy.

The night before the Quidditch match, Lily and James were doing their normal rounds making sure the corridors were clear.

"You're going to be at the game tomorrow, right Evans?" James asked Lily hopefully.

"Of course!" She responded. "You don't think I'd miss James Potter flying around like a maniac while pounding the Slytherin team to dust, did you?" She joked.

"Well you know Evans, a Quidditch player is nothing without a good luck charm," James said. "So will you be mine?" He grinned at her expression. She rolled her eyes.

"Why don't you pick one of those 5th year girls that obsess over you? They would be a much better good luck charm than me," she replied, a smile playing across her lips.

"No one's a better good luck charm than you, Lily," he said, meeting her gaze.

_Wow easy on the eyes_, Lily thought as she tried not to blush. She had to admit, the new James Potter was one she could grow fond of very easily. He was kind and compassionate, but he was also the same lighthearted jokester he'd always been, without the hexing first years for fun part.

"I believe what we just had there is what they call a moment, Evans," James said, a smile spreading across his face. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Don't flatter yourself, Potter" she replied, but she was smiling as well. Why did James Potter make her so damn happy all the time?

James was up at the crack of dawn the next day. He was ready to crack some Slytherin skulls. If he lost, he would never hear the end of it from Sirius and probably Lily as well.

_Ahh Lily_ he thought. Ever since they had become head boy and girl, James could literally feel them getting closer and closer. At first, Lily had been a little annoyed that he had become head boy. But then he had proven himself to be responsible and he took the job seriously, therefore Lily and James had been getting along. They were getting along so well that James didn't want to ruin his chances by doing anything stupid like asking her out. James was guessing that even professor McGonagall was impressed by how well the two were working together because in years previous, anyone could've heard the two arguing down the hallway about something, and then James would quickly ask her out, and Lily would say no with some smartass comment. Everyone in the school could see the improvement.

As James walked into the Great Hall for breakfast, Sirius, Remus, and Peter in tow, the entire Gryffindor house began cheering. James couldn't help but grin at the attention. He saw that farther down the table, even Lily was cheering. At the far side of the Great Hall, the Slytherins began hissing at him, the loudest of all was the Slytherin Quidditch team. James gulped nervously. The Slytherin team was mostly made up of wannabe Death Eaters. James didn't want to think about what would happen to him if he won.

Sirius clapped James on the back and led him over to sit down. Sirius did this annoying thing any day there was a Quidditch match where he tasted all of James' food first "to make sure it wasn't poisoned" as he put it. James had gotten used to it over the years; even though he knew there was no way it anything was poisoned.

"Good luck today James," Someone said behind him. He turned in his seat, hoping it was Lily, but it was just two of those pesky fifth year girls who constantly annoyed him and followed him around.

"Er thanks," James said quickly. He got up to avoid the 5th years. James liked to get to the Quidditch pitch early before a game so he could test out the environment. He exited the Great Hall into the Entrance Hall. Suddenly, someone stopped him.

"Lily!" he said, surprised.

"Hey, I just want to wish you good luck today," she responded, suddenly a little shy.

"Ah it's not about luck, Evans," James said confidently.

"I mean just be careful. You know that the Slytherins might try to..." she trailed off. James knew what she meant. It was no secret that James and his family were blood traitors. His pureblood family actively did not support You-Know-Who. This year in particular, James had escaped many close calls with some of You-Know-Who's supporters in the Slytherin house.

"Thanks Evans," James said. Suddenly he did something very brave. "Want to walk me down to the Quidditch Pitch?" Lily was taken by surprise.

"Sure," she replied. The two exited Hogwarts and began walking down.

"You don't think any Slytherin might actually try something during a game, do you?" Lily asked. "I mean with all the teachers watching?"

"I don't know, hopefully not," James grimaced.

"Well what are you going to do if they start to attack?" Lily asked, concerned.

"Hope that Dorcus catches the snitch quickly I guess," James said.

"Well maybe if something goes wrong during the game, you can give me a sign and I can try to help you," Lily offered hopefully.

"Really Evans, you would do that for me?" James was shocked.

"Of course!"

"Why?"

"Because you're my friend stupid, and I wouldn't just watch my friend get beaten to a pulp by some Death Eaters," she said, as if this was obvious. They didn't talk for the rest of the walk down to the Quidditch pitch. When they arrived, the two parted, and James went to go get dressed.

James was as proud of his team as a father would be of his son. He had two 5th year boys as his beaters, a quick 6th year girl as his keeper, another 6th year girl and a 4th year boy and himself as chasers, and Dorcus Meadows as his seeker. The team of red and gold made their way onto the Quidditch pitch to storms of cheering from the Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs, and hissing from the Slytherins. James gulped at the menacing looks on the Slytherin team's faces. They were all staring directly at _him_.

The game started out as any normal game would. James scored one point right off the bat. Sirius was commentating the game as he always did.

"And there goes James Potter with the quaffle speeding towards the Slytherin goal. Keep in mind ladies that he is single!" Sirius joked. "Ooh close miss on a bludger aimed straight for the face by Amycus Carrow! What a slimeball,"

"Mr. Black!" McGonagall shouted.

"Sorry Professor, sorry," Sirius apologized.

"Looks like the seekers have spotted something! There goes Dorcus Meadows and my dear little brother Regulus Black chasing after the snitch. Oh no wait never mind." Back on the field, something was happening to James Potter. Both bludgers it seemed were chasing after James.

"The bludgers are rouge!" Sirius shouted outraged. "This is foulplay, dirty Slytherins!" The microphone was suddenly ripped from Sirius' hand as he fought over it with Professor McGonagall. From the stands, Lily watched in horror as James narrowly avoided the two bludgers that were right on his tail. He swerved to avoid them and both bludgers went tumbling under the stands. James raced towards Lily on his broom.

"It seems that James is now rushing towards Lily Evans in the stands and they seem to be discussing something. Hopefully their wedding plans, am I right folks?" Sirius joked as he regained the microphone. James reminded himself to kill Sirius later.

"Listen Evans, I don't have much time," James said quickly.

"I'm going to speed on my broomstick really far up, and then I'm going to nose dive. Destroy the bludgers right as I dive because then I will have the farthest clearance from them."

"Don't worry Potter, I'll take care of it," she assured him. Suddenly, a crack was heard below her as the two bludgers burst from under the stands.

"Got to go!" James shouted as he tore away. Lily concentrated hard. She watched as James flew on his broomstick up, up, up. And then he dived.

"Reducto!" Lily shouted from the stands. One of the bludgers burst into dust. James pulled out of his nose dive right before he hit the ground. The second bludger hit the ground leaving a crater in its wake. James traveled up into the air again, but the second bludger knew what was coming. As James pulled into his nose dive, the bludger slammed right into him, breaking the shaft of the broom clean in half. James tried to stay on his broom but it raced towards the ground.

"Reducto!" Lily shouted again and the bludger splintered into a million pieces. Meanwhile, James was laying on the field, not moving. Lily couldn't stop herself. She raced onto the field.

"And Lily Evans is now racing onto the field to James' side. Don't they just make a handsome couple folks?" Sirius was saying to the crowd. Lily reminded herself to kill Sirius later. Madame Hooch was already there with Madame Pomfry.

"Yes definitely a few broken ribs, a broken arm I'm guessing, and a nasty concussion," Madame Pomfry declared.

"Will he be alright?" Lily asked anxiously.

"He'll be fine dear. He's just blacked out from the hit to his head. He will be back to his normal antics in a few days."

James awoke in the hospital wing a few hours later surrounded by the entire Gryffindor Quidditch team, Sirius, Remus, and Peter.

"Did we win?" James asked groggily.

"Actually, Dorcus here caught the snitch while you were being chased by those bludgers and Evans was saving your ass," Sirius explained.

"Where's Evans?" James asked.

"She just left for a few minutes to talk to Professor Dumbledore. She'll be back," Remus said gently. James tried to sit up but felt an agonizing pain in his head.

"Woah slow down there cowboy!" Sirius said catching him and lowering him back down.

Suddenly from behind the crowd someone timidly asked, "James?" The crowd parted and Lily was standing there, a worried look on her face.

"Hey Evans," James said groggily, raising his non-broken hand in greeting.

"She hasn't left your side since you got up here," Sirius whispered in James' ear. He stood up and addressed the nine other people around him. "Come on gang, time to clear out. James is in good hands over here, time to give him some space." Everyone left except Lily who just stood there awkwardly. Finally she spoke up.

"You drool in your sleep," she noted.

"Thanks for that, Evans," James said sarcastically. "And thanks for destroying the bludgers."

"I told you I'd take care of it, didn't I? And plus what would Hogwarts do without its prized James Potter," she joked.

"Tear itself to pieces I presume," James said. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Well take care of yourself, Potter" Lily said.

"Are you leaving?" James sounded disappointed.

"It's dinner time. Besides, Sirius is waiting outside the hospital wing eavesdropping on our conversation right now. You'll have plenty of company," Lily told him. They heard a thump from behind the door as Sirius emerged sheepishly. Lily smiled at James and walked out the hospital wing. James watched her go.

"Seems like Evans has finally taken a liking to you," Sirius evaluated.

"You think?" James asked hopefully.

"Well she did try to punch me in the face after the game for what I was saying on the microphone. That means she was embarrassed," Sirius said. James just laughed, which really hurt his ribs.

"What am I going to do with her?" He asked dreamily.

"Get some rest, love boy," Sirius said.


	6. He Was Brave (7th Year)

In the late hours of a cold November evening, James Potter and Lily Evans trudged up towards the entrance to Hogwarts Castle. They were just returning from a lovely evening with their good friend Hagrid. Lily had been visiting Hagrid ever since he had spotted her crying outside the castle one day during her second year and had comforted her and cheered her up. James also visited Hagrid regularly because Hagrid had been friends with James' father before he was expelled. The head boy and girl had coincidentally decided to pay Hagrid a visit the same evening, and so they all ended up having tea in Hagrid's hut together and having a lighthearted debate about which Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Bean was the worst. Lily and James had been having such a delightful time with Hagrid that they hadn't realized the time and stayed until it was quite dark outside. After realizing what he had done, Hagrid had shooed them out of his hut and sent them back to the castle.

As the two heads walked, Lily pulled out her wand and muttered "lumos" to create some light on the dark grounds.

"Much better," she said happily. James stopped her.

"I could do you one better," he said mysteriously.

"Well then let's see it Potter," Lily challenged joking. James pulled out his wand and concentrated very hard. He scrunched up his forehead as if he was trying to remember something very clearly.

"Expecto patronum!" James commanded and something huge and silvery burst out of his wand. The silver light transformed into the shape of-

"A stag!" Lily said in awe. "Prongs." She laughed at the realization of what James' nickname meant. She reached out her hand and the patronus stag nuzzled it with his nose.

"How did you manage to produce a fully fledged one," she asked.

"I've been practicing," James said. The entire NEWT Defense against the Dark Arts class had been practicing conjuring a patronus for the past month, but no one had been able to produce a fully fledged one. The professor insisted that they all learn to conjure a patronus before they headed off into the outside wizarding world at the end of the year. In the dark times they were all in with the Dark Lord He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named finally coming to power, a patronus would come in handy, especially now that the dementors were being controlled by him. All Lily had managed to conjure was a few wisps of silver smoke, nothing compared to the magic James had just accomplished. "Pretty impressive, huh Evans," James boasted, a playful smile on his face. Lily rolled her eyes, but she was still smiling.

"I've been trying so hard to produce one, but all I've managed is a few wisps of smoke whenever I try," Lily said disappointed.

"Well let's see it then," James encouraged, taking a step back. Lily did everything the professor had instructed her to do. She concentrated hard on a happy memory, the same one she'd been concentrating on since she first started practicing her patronus. At first, Lily had had a difficult time coming up with a happy memory. Most of her earlier memories were either tainted by Severus or Petunia. Eventually, she opted for the time that she had first gotten her Hogwarts letter. She remembered the feeling of happiness she had felt, the excitement. She remembered how thrilled and proud her parents had been. Lily let the feeling fill her up inside. She concentrated and shouted out, "Expecto patronum!" To her and James' disappointment, all that emerged from her wand was the usual wisp of smoke.

"Maybe what you need is a happier memory," James suggested. "For awhile, I couldn't do it. I realized it was because the memory I had wasn't strong enough. I had to think of someone that truly made me happy, that made me _want_ to produce the patronus." Lily froze.

"You said someone," she noted.

"No I didn't. I said something," James said quickly.

"No I definitely heard you say someone-" Lily stopped as suddenly the air grew cold. A feeling of dread washed over her, completely draining the happiness away that she had just been feeling a minute ago. James' stag which had been standing next to Lily flickered and then vanished. The light from her wand stifled out a second later. Lily's mind was suddenly filled with horrible memories; the moment when Petunia had found out she was a witch and called her a freak, the feeling she felt when Severus had called her a mudblood. She looked at James and could tell the same thing was happening to him. He looked back at her and uttered one word:

"Dementors."

"It's not possible," Lily whispered, her voice quivering. "They could never get inside the castle unless-"

"Unless someone summoned them in," James finished "Someone like Mulciber or Avery or-" He didn't finish his thought but Lily knew who he was thinking, _Severus. _Suddenly, out of the darkness floated at least a dozen dementors. The pair had never seen dementors before. They all wore tattered black cloaks, but it didn't cover the rotting grey flesh of their arms reaching out towards them. James immediately stepped protectively in front of Lily and reached for her hand. Lily barely even had a second to process the thought that she was holding hands, with _James Potter_?

"E-expecto Patronum," James stammered. The stag once again burst from his wand, but it was weaker than the first patronus. The dementors faltered for a second, but then continued to advance at a slower pace.

"Lily," James said. His voice was strangely calming; he was trying to sound brave.

"Listen to me, my patronus is enough to hold them off, but it won't drive them away. You need to run back to the castle, try to get help. I'll hold them back-"

"No James, I can't just leave you out here. You know what happens when dementors get too close to someone. They'll, they'll-" She couldn't bring herself to say it. _They'll suck out his soul._

"Fine then you'll have to try to create a patronus," James said desperately.

"But I can't!" Lily felt like crying. She couldn't do it; she had never produced more than a few wisps of silver, nothing powerful enough to stop an army of dementors.

"You have to try," James told her encouragingly. Lily could curl up in a ball and hide. But she wouldn't. She was a Gryffindor. If James couldn't count on her to be courageous and brave when he needed her to be, then what kind of a Gryffindor was she? Lily met James' hazel eyes with her deep green ones. She couldn't let James down, he was depending on her. She raised her wand, trying to conjure the happiness she felt when she first received her Hogwarts letter, but she couldn't concentrate. James was much too close, his hand was still closed around hers, and he was counting on her. All she could think about was, _James_.

"Expecto patronum!" She shouted. Something huge, no enormous erupted out of her wand. The animal charged at the dementors. The demons scattered as Lily's patronus and James' patronus stormed each of them. The dementors disappeared into the night. Lily was panting hard from the efforts it took to produce her patronus. She watched as her and James' patronuses circled each other before vanishing, leaving the two Gryffindors in darkness.

"What was your patronus, a deer?" James asked, still staring in the direction the patronuses had been standing.

"A doe I think," Lily responded. Suddenly her eyes widened. She jumped away from James like he was on fire.

"Evans what the-" James stopped in his tracks as the realization dawned on his face. "A doe is a stag's mate, but then that means... THAT MEANS -" Suddenly the grounds were filled with light as three professors charged onto the grounds. James' heart sank as he made out Professor McGonagall, Professor Slughorn, and in front of both of them, Professor Dumbledore. Lily silently praised the lord. She had just been saved from what was going to be a rough confrontation when the time came. James thought that he and Lily were going to get in big trouble for being out of the castle after curfew, but the professors weren't even focused on that.

"Where are the dementors," McGonagall asked determinedly.

"I- we drove them off," Lily stammered breathlessly.

"You mean to tell me that the two of you drove off an army of dementors all by yourselves?" McGonagall still sounded very serious but there was a hint of pride in her voice.

"Lily conjured up a fully fledged patronus and it fought off all of the dementors," James explained, "She was amazing." Lily blushed.

She couldn't help but think, _James Potter thinks I'm amazing._ Lily shook herself out of it.

Slughorn was in the middle of saying, "Inside Hogwarts grounds? How could this have happened?"

"The only way is if someone summoned the dementors inside the grounds, someone with an allegiance to Lord Voldemort," Dumbledore said gravely. Everyone but Dumbledore shuddered at the name.

"Well we must enforce more security from now on!" McGonagall stated.

"I agree Minerva, from now on, nothing gets in or out of the grounds without my explicit permission, but it is late. We will deal with this in the morning. These children have had a long night. I will ask that you escort Miss Evans to the hospital wing. I must have a quick private word with Mr. Potter," Dumbledore said to McGonagall.

"Oh but Professor I'm fine," Lily protested.

"I'm afraid I must insist, Miss Evans. No doubt conjuring up a fully fledged patronus took a lot of energy out of you. Mr. Potter will join you in a few minutes after we are finished.

McGonagall, Slughorn, and Lily made their way back to the castle leaving Professor Dumbledore and a very nervous James Potter out on the grounds. McGonagall lead Lily up to the hospital wing where she was then placed into the care of Madame Pomfry, who fed her chocolate until she felt sick to her stomach. Although there was nothing wrong with Lily, other than major fatigue and a stomach ache, she was forced to stay in the hospital wing overnight. Madame Pomfry fed her a potion that would ease her into dreamless sleep.

She was still in shock with what just happened. Lily's patronus could have taken the shape of any animal in the world, but it had chosen to be a doe. The animal that reflected Lily's personality the most, _was the mate of a stag?_ Lily tried convincing herself it was a mistake, or just a coincidence, but how could it have been. She was thinking about James when she cast her patronus. She was casting her patronus _for James_.

Right before Lily passed out, she heard the door to the hospital wing open again as James Potter was escorted inside by Professor Dumbledore. Lily would have to deal with James and the patronus incident tomorrow morning, but for now all she wanted to do was sleep.

Lily awoke early the next morning. She could see from behind a curtain in the hospital wing that James was stirring as well. Better sneak out before he awoke fully and started questioning her about her patronus again. _Her patronus_. The events of last night came flooding back to her; the dementors, the stag, the doe, James_._

Lily rushed out of the hospital wing and heard James call "Lily?" behind her in confusion. She raced back to Gryffindor tower. By the time she reached her dorm room, the other 7th year Gryffindor girls were almost ready for breakfast. When Mary saw Lily, her eyes widened.

"What happened to you last night?" She asked, concerned.

"It's a long story, I'll tell it to you later," Lily said, quickly changing into a new set of robes. She had to get out of Gryffindor tower before James got back, or else there would be no way to escape from him. If she just made it to the Great Hall for breakfast without encountering James, she could escape confrontation, at least until the end of breakfast.

"I heard there was a dementor attack last night, you wouldn't have had anything to do with that, would you Lily?" Marlene asked sleepily.

"Um yeah sort of," Lily said, grabbing her book bag. She practically ran down the stairs to the Gryffindor common room. Sitting on the couch was Remus.

"Lily!" Remus said in surprise. "Where's James? I heard there were dementors-" But Lily was already out the portrait hole. She walked briskly down the corridors towards the Great Hall, trying to blend in with the crowd of Gryffindors. She had just made it into the Entrance Hall when-

"LILY!" A voice bellowed from the corridor across the one she had just come from. She had been spotted. Lily tried to keep her head down to avoid being sought out.

"LILY YOU CAN'T KEEP AVOIDING ME!" Several students were giving their head girl odd looks as she tried to make her way into the Great Hall.

"GO AWAY I HATE YOU!" She screamed back and that voice that could belong to none other than James Potter. He was coming towards her, fast. Lily picked up her brisk walk until it was practically a run. She was just about to dash into the Great Hall when she felt a yank on her hand, and she was spun around to face a seething James Potter.

"We need to talk," James growled, his voice dangerously low.

"Let go of me, Potter," Lily commanded, but James just held onto her arm tighter. Several students were beginning to gather around the pair, including a very bewildered Sirius, Remus, and Peter.

"How long have you felt this way about me?" James interrogated, referring to Lily's patronus.

"I don't feel anything for you except pure hatred," Lily spat.

"That's not true, your patronus proves it. You like me," James said, his eyes boring into Lily's. She yanked her hand away from his and marched towards the doors of the Great Hall. "You want to know how I was finally able to produce a patronus, Evans? You want to know?" James called after her. Lily stopped in her tracks and turned around to face him, her arms crossed over her chest. "I was thinking about how hard I've fallen for you. I was thinking about how happy you make me and how much I've had a crush on you since bloody first year!" James began advancing towards Lily. "I was able to produce my patronus because I was thinking about the beautiful, the maddening, the kind, the stubborn, the amazing, Lily Evans." Lily's features softened as she took in what James was saying. He closed the gap between them and stared her right in the eyes. "And I know that to produce your patronus, you were thinking about me, which is the reason that my patronus is a stag, and yours is a doe. How long are you going to keep fighting me on this, Evans? You and I, we've got something that no one else has." And with that, James leaned in and kissed Lily Evans hard. She was surprised at first, but then she sank into him and kissed him back. The crowd around the two heads was astonished. James kissed Lily for a full ten seconds before she abruptly pulled away.

"I hate you!" She yelled and smacked him across the face before turning on her heel and stalking into the Great Hall, leaving James Potter standing in the entry hall, completely stunned.


	7. He Was Perfect (7th Year)

It would be an understatement to say that the rest of the day had been a horrible one for Lily. The events of the night before and the morning in the Entry Hall had spread around the school like wildfire. Everywhere Lily went she was met with whispers and stares. And it didn't help that Dumbledore made an announcement at breakfast telling the school about Lily and James' battle with the dementors. At least he awarded them 15 points each for their actions. Lily could hear the gossip around the school. She even picked up conversations in the girls lavatory.

"Did you hear what happened between James Potter and Lily Evans this morning?"

"He kissed her and she right up smacked him across the face!"

"They're saying that her patronus is the female counterpart of James' patronus."

"I swear, how long is Potter going to keep chasing her? I mean clearly after this morning it proves she doesn't like him."

"What were they even doing out on the grounds after curfew anyway?"

"James kissed her and she definitely kissed him back. Their kiss was like ten seconds long. Lily would never have let it go on so long if she didn't like him."

The attention eventually became too much for Lily. Dorcus, Mary, Marlene, and Alice found her under the covers of her bed at four in the afternoon.

"You can't hide out here in shame, Lily!" Mary coaxed as Marlene and Dorcus tried to forcefully remove Lily from her bed.

"I'm not ashamed!" Lily protested. "I just can't stand to see Potter."

"Yeah sure you can't," Marlene said sarcastically. "Not like you two were getting cozy around the grounds after curfew last night."

"We were at Hagrid's!" Lily wailed.

"Lily dear you can't stay cooped up here all night. Like my Frank always says-" Alice began. All the girls groaned.

"Fear is only temporary, regret lasts forever," she finished proudly.

Marlene yanked on Lily's covers. "Yeah and you're going to _regret_ not getting out of bed unless you want my foot up your-"

"Thank you Marlene," Dorcus interrupted quickly.

"Look guys, thanks for your help, but I'm really not hungry and I'm tired," Lily said to the other 7th year girls. One by one, each gave up on Lily and went to dinner. Lily lay in bed for hours and tried to think.

She had already forced herself to admit that her patronus was not merely a coincidence to James' patronus. Was the fact that her patronus was a doe and his was a stag a sign from the universe telling Lily that she and James were destined to be with each other? It seemed too much to believe. Sure James had been becoming increasingly more mature since 5th year; she had unexpectedly seen a better, kinder, more mature side of James this year, a side that she had rather liked. Could she deny that she hadn't thought about them being together as the year went on? Suddenly the quote Alice had said came drifting back to her.

_Fear is only temporary, regret lasts forever._

Was that it? Was Lily afraid of her feelings for James?

"Sure, handling an army of dementors is nothing but admitting feelings for James Potter is terrifying",Lily grumbled to herself. If she never acted on these feelings for James, she would spend the rest of her life regretting it, Lily was sure. She had to face her feelings. _I like James Potter_, she thought. There, that was it. Lily had admitted to herself that she had feelings for James. Now the question remained, would she act upon it?

As 11:00 closed in that night, Lily was forced to face the fact that she had been completely stupid to skip dinner. Her stomach was cramping as she tried to do charms to conjure food, but sadly, nothing would work. She officially decided that she had no choice but to sneak to the kitchens. If a professor caught her she could just say she had forgotten that she didn't have to do patrol since the professors had taken over patrol for the next few nights as a safety precaution. Her plans were halted as she reached the bottom of the stairs to the common room and saw someone sitting on the couch by the firelight. James Potter was sitting calmly playing with an old snitch_._ Lily could not help but flashback to the end of 5th year when she and James had decided to become friends after the events of Severus ending him and Lily's friendship and breaking James' nose along the way. Maybe, if Lily was careful, James wouldn't spot her and she could creep back to her dormitory unnoticed.

"Lily?" Too late.

"Hey," she said, surprised when her voice sounded so small.

"Come to slap me again?" Lily thought he was trying to joke with her, but his face stayed as emotionless as ever. Lily approached the couch and stood in front of James so that he looked up at her.

"I'm sorry about today, James. I acted stupid and I panicked," Lily began.

"No Evans, what happened today was my fault. I thought that if I confronted you out in the open in front of a bunch of people, you couldn't refuse, but naturally that didn't work because you're so damn stubborn," James said glumly. Lily was affronted at first but she detected no malice in his voice.

"Can I ask you something?" James asked after a moment. Lily didn't answer, but James went on anyway. "Today, when I kissed you, before you pulled away and slapped me, there was a moment when you were kissing me back, I could feel it," James said. It wasn't really a question. Lily wanted to deny James' accusations, tell him that he was delusional, but she knew what he said was true. She had kissed him back, and dare she say it, she had enjoyed the kiss for a second too. "And I mean Evans, if you don't like me, can you just say it right here and now so I know that whatever I thought was growing between us this year was all in my head?" James asked, staring up at her, his face completely lacking any emotion. There was silence for a moment before Lily spoke up.

"It wasn't in your head," she said softly.

"What?" James had missed what she had spoken she had said it so quietly.

"It wasn't in your head, James," Lily said, louder and with more confidence this time. "I was just afraid, this whole year. I was afraid that I was falling for you, I was afraid of my feelings. I was just being a coward," Lily admitted. James' face was still strangely stricken with emotion, but he raised one eyebrow, imploring her to go on. "But I'm not afraid anymore," she went on in a very sure tone. Without even contemplating her next move, Lily pushed herself onto the couch so that she was straddling James as she bent over him. For the first time that evening, James' smiled a bit. Their eyes met as Lily let her hand caress his cheek and he shuddered at the intimate touch. Not letting their eye contact break, she leaned her head down slowly, letting herself get lost in the moment before Lily would let her and James' lips touch. He gazed up at her, a mixture between amazement and another emotion Lily couldn't identify. For a second they just looked at each other, trying to read the other's expression. Then suddenly, Lily let her lips crush against his. For a moment, the world stopped and the only ones in it were Lily Evans and James Potter as they let everything that had built up from the last seven years at Hogwarts go in one moment. James' arms were wrapped around Lily's torso letting their bodies connect. Lily's hands were cupped around James' face as she pulled him up to her in one electrifying, tantalizing, magical, wonderful kiss.

_Who knew this moment could be so perfect, _James thought as he tried to process the goddess that was straddling him as she snogged him passionately. After all the years of being rejected by her, hated by her, annoyed by her, drawn to her, Lily Evans had fallen for him, maybe even as hard as he'd fallen for her. And then suddenly... it broke. Lily pulled away. James tried none too successfully to hide his disappointment.

"What'd you do that for?" James complained.

"James," Lily said breathlessly. "I'm really, really hungry. I skipped dinner to avoid all the gossip regarding us," James rolled his eyes as he reluctantly let Lily climb off his lap.

"Alright princess, let's go find you some food," He sighed as he led Lily out of the portrait hole, but neither of the two could stop smiling.


	8. He Was In Love With Her (7th Year)

Lily and James were out by the lake snogging when as a joke, he had transformed into a stag, while still kissing her. The most embarrassing part was that she had kept kissing him for several seconds before realizing that James was no longer human. Lily had pulled away positively disgusted with him and at the fact she had just kissed an animal, even if the animal was her boyfriend. She had stormed away as James transformed back into his human form and ran after her, roaring with laughter.

James and Lily probably had the strangest yet most adorable relationship anyone could think of. According to Sirius, who found the story of Lily kissing James in stag form quite hysterical, the two were made for each other. According to James, he was dating the most amazing girl at last, and he would let nothing ever tear them apart. According to Lily, James was just perfect, well except for when he contradicted her. The two knew everything about each other. James had even shared the marauders' deepest secret with her; that he as well as Sirius and Peter were illegal animagi and snuck out at the full moon every month to help Remus get through his transformations, as he was a werewolf.

The thing that most people found amusing about the relationship between the two heads was how much they argued. People could hear them screaming at each other down the corridors, then walk by again three minutes later to find them passionately snogging against the wall. That was the thing; anytime they got in an argument, they would always make up by snogging, and they would snog a lot.

"James I'm sick of the way you always put Quidditch before your head duties!" Lily shouted one May night in the Gryffindor common room. They were standing right in the middle of the room blocking the fire. A few feet back, Sirius, Remus, Peter, and the entire Quidditch team sat listening to the argument.

"Well believe it or not, Evans, I'm Quidditch captain AND Head Boy, so I have responsibilities to both!" He yelled back.

"This is the third night in a row you've been late to head duties. Your Quidditch practice went an hour and a half late! Do you realize that James? An hour and a half! We were supposed to start patrolling at 8:30 on Dumbledore's orders specifically!" She shrieked.

"We went overtime again! Sorry, you know we've got the final Quidditch match of the year coming up! We have to get in as much practice as possible!"

"It doesn't mean I should be stuck waiting for you for an hour while you and your Quidditch team are out getting in extra practice time! I can't do this alone." Lily's arms were crossed. She had a look of fire in her eyes and she was staring James down fiercely, as if her eyes were piercing his soul, and James thought she had never looked more beautiful.

"Okay okay Lily. I'm sorry. I won't let it happen again. And just for you, I'll end practice fifteen minutes early tomorrow. Is that better for you?" He asked in a very calming voice, cupping her chin in his hands. Lily's expression softened, but her arms remained crossed.

"Make it thirty and we're good," Lily said.

"Anything for you, Evans" James replied, leaning in. Lily smiled, James was really the best. He could infuriate her one second, and make her swoon the next. It definitely didn't make their relationship easy, but who said Lily ever wanted something to be easy? She placed her arms around his neck as their lips met.

"Oh God here we go again," Sirius groaned. James and Lily were intertwined around each other in a matter of seconds. She had her hands tangled in his hair, while he had one hand still cupping her face, and the other wrapped around her waist as he pulled her closer to him. Between the kisses, Sirius could see that James was smiling as he snogged the girl of his dreams. Then, James' hand moved from cupping Lily's face to gropping her rear. And his other hand began cupping her breast.

"Oh come on Prongs!" Sirius protested. "There are kids around!" James and Lily broke apart slowly as if they had just realized they were in the middle of a common room. Lily blushed.

"Well I guess we should start patrolling," she said breathlessly, she was definitely still in a daze from being seduced by James Potter once again.

"Yeah, let's go," he replied, leading her out the portrait hole into the corridors.

"I wonder what they're going to do while they're 'patrolling'" Sirius murmured sarcastically to the others.

James and Lily used to be good at patrolling the corridors at the beginning of the year, when they weren't dating. Now, James was pretty sure an army of giants could walk past the two and they wouldn't even notice. Technically, they did patrol the corridors, if patrolling meant spending several minutes in one place before moving down to a different floor and spending several minutes there. It was school gossip that the two heads just used the time when they patrolled the corridors to snog in an abandoned classroom instead. Lily could say that these rumors were untrue, well partially untrue. They didn't snog, well in abandoned classrooms at least. They snogged right out in the open corridors. It's not like anyone would catch them. A student trying to go about the castle without being noticed at night would hardly go and interrupt the two heads while they were snogging unless they wanted a week's detention (This can be testified to as Sirius did exactly that and Lily just about hexed his ears off.)

Tonight was different then most nights. Lily and James were down in the dungeons doing their usual "patrolling." James had Lily pinned up against the wall. Her legs were wrapped around his waist and her blouse was unbuttoned a few buttons too low so that her light blue lacey bra was visible. Her skirt was riding a little too far up her legs. James' tie hung loose around his neck and his shirt was completely unbuttoned revealing his toned muscles. The two were a hot mess. Lily and James kissed passionately for several minutes before stopping to catch their breath.

"You're amazing, Evans. You know that?" James said to her breathlessly as he gazed at her. She just smiled at him.

"If someone told me in any other year I would be here now with you, doing this," she said, gesturing around her, "I would've called them crazy and suggested they see Madame Pomfry." James laughed.

"You were rather stubborn," he joked.

"And you were rather arrogant," she replied smugly.

"Yeah but deep down, you always liked me, didn't you Evans?" James asked, a grin plastered on his face.

"Are you kidding me?" She said incredulously. "You were an absolute nightmare to have constantly hovering around me!"

"You must have liked me a little," he pushed. Lily just laughed at his expression.

"Oh James, you arrogant little bastard, you actually believe that I liked you back then, don't you?" she joked.

"I don't have to believe it, I know it," James responded wisely. Lily rolled her eyes, but there was no use arguing with her boyfriend. His mind was set, as delusional as it might be. The two gazed at each other. "You know," James said after a moment. "I was talking to Dumbledore the other day, and he told me about this organization called The Order of the Phoenix. It's a resistance group founded by him that fights against You-Know-Who and his death eaters."James paused. "He offered me to join it." Lily didn't say anything. "Well actually, he offered both of us to join it," James clarified.

"He wants US to join his group to combat the death eaters?" Lily asked, astonished.

"Yeah, and I've been thinking a lot about it; what I want to do once I'm not at Hogwarts anymore. How I want to live my life and well," James paused for a moment as he looked deep into Lily's eyes, the hazel meeting the green, "I think I'm going to join, and I want you to join with me." Lily didn't know what to say. She was stunned at the idea of being in Dumbledore's personal resistance group. Lily didn't even know if she had the skill to even be in such a group. Suddenly, the two heard voices coming from around the corner. They barely had time to realize that James' shirt was still open and Lily's bra was practically popping out of her blouse. The voices were loud as if the people didn't even care that it was past curfew and didn't care about getting caught. James and Lily quickly hid behind a tapestry as they realized who the voices belonged to. Lily could easily make out the voices of Avery and Mucliber and Severus, but there were at least two others with them as well.

"We're not going to get caught sneaking out, right?" Snape asked.

"Are you kidding? With the head boy and girl probably shagging it up on the 7th floor, who's going to stop us?" Avery replied. Everyone laughed.

"You'd think a pureblood like Potter would have better taste than a mudblood like Evans," Mucliber said, "but you know, blood traitors, I say they're even worse than mudbloods. They choose to betray their status. It's treachery!" Lily could feel James tense up beside her. His wand was clutched tight in his hand.

"James don't," Lily whispered. All the Death Eaters suddenly stopped.

"Did you hear that?" An unidentified voice asked the others.

"Probably just one of those stupid ghosts or something," Avery brushed it off. "Come on, let's get out of here." The group of death eaters passed. As soon as the two heads were sure they were gone, James turned on Lily.

"How come you held me back? Why didn't you let me confront them?" He asked angrily.

"James Potter, don't be stupid," Lily replied. "You know that the Head Boy and Girl would've hardly had an effect on a group of death eaters. They could've killed us!"

"So we're just going to let them get away then?" James was outraged. "You know what they're going to do, don't you. They're out to go chumming it up with their favorite dark lord!"

"James, they'll be plenty of times to fight dementors when were both in the Order of the Phoenix," Lily consoled her fuming boyfriend. James opened his mouth to respond, but then he stopped seeming to just realize what Lily had said.

"When we're _both_ in the Order of the Phoenix?" He asked.

"Yes, well I've been thinking it over, and well after hearing Severus' voice tonight with all of his death eater friends, I realized that I wanted to help combat You-Know-Who's forces," Lily explained timidly. James could hardly believe what he was hearing. He picked Lily up and swung her around above him before letting her down and kissing her passionately. Lily responded immediately, kissing James back forcefully. The two snogged for a few moments before James pulled back abruptly and gazed at Lily as if looking at her for the first time. And then he realized something.

"I love you," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. Lily was stunned at what she had just heard. Did she hear him right? _James Potter _loved her_. _James Potter loved_ her_. James Potter _loved _her. She kept repeating it in her brain over and over again. Lily seemed to be unable to comprehend the fact that James Potter, a boy, no man, that could have any girl in this school just by winking at them, _had fallen in love with her, Lily Evans_. Lily suddenly felt something churn in the pit of her stomach as it rose like a bubble up through her body until it poured out her mouth.

"I love you too," she said softly, letting her eyes fill with tears. James noticing this suddenly became concerned.

"Lily my darling, why are you crying? Did I upset you?" He asked, cupping her head in his hands as he wiped the tears dripping from her eyes.

"I'm scared, James," she whispered. "When we're out in the real world, you heard what Mulciber and Avery said, I'm- I'm a mudblood. The death eaters will hunt me down; try to exterminate me for what I am. But you James, you're a pureblood. You can live in the new regime, I can't. With me weighing you down, it makes you a blood traitor. That makes you a target too." She could not meet his eyes. Her beautiful tear streaked face was full of a million emotions.

"Don't you dare think like that Lily Evans. I would never let anything happen to you, ever. If anyone ever tried to hurt you, I would protect you under any costs. I decided to join The Order of the Phoenix so I could combat the new regime. This war is about something far greater than you or me. Wizards should live in a world where it doesn't matter about your blood status or your heritage. We should all be valued for our skills, not how pure our blood is." Lily couldn't compress the emotions she was feeling. She flung her arms around James in a hug that would've crushed a spine, but James just hugged Lily back, resting his head on hers as she buried her face into his chest. The two stood there like that for a few moments before Lily pulled back.

"Do you reckon we'll be good Order members?" She asked him.

"Are you kidding? We'll be the most badass Order members Dumbledore has ever seen," James said grinning at her. Lily smiled back reassured. James looked at Lily as he let himself once again be drawn into her magnificence. He loved this woman, he knew it. James made a silent promise to himself right in that moment that he would protect and love Lily Evans until the day he died and there was no way he would let anything happen to her. That night that Lily and James shared in the dungeons in their 7th year at Hogwarts was the moment that they both realized they would always be together, till death do them part. Little did James know that five years later on October 31st, 1981 he would fulfill his promise as he gave his life trying to save Lily and their son, Harry Potter.

**THE END**

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